AT A GLANCE

• London is the dominant market in this region. 11 commercial transactions were tracked plus 6 additional MLS-sourced sales, the highest transaction count in this series.
• 12-month multifamily sales volume in London has approximately doubled year-over-year to roughly $600M, driven by two landmark portfolio transactions.
• Royal Oak Terrace: 546 units across multiple London properties, sold at $102.5M ($187,729 per unit). The single largest transaction in this regional dataset.
• Lumen Drive seniors housing portfolio acquired at approximately $3.4M per unit. Flagged as non-comparable. This is a specialized care facility, not conventional multifamily.
• London's overall vacancy rate sits at approximately 7.9%, the highest of all markets covered in this series, reflecting a concentrated delivery of new supply in 2023 and 2024.
• Wharncliffe Road North sold under Power of Sale at $600,000. Lender-driven. Not a market comparable.
• Stratford: Queensland Apartments (150 units, built 2025) sold to Skyline Apartment REIT for $65.8M ($439K per unit). Brand new Class A product, 17.3% lease-up vacancy, CIBC financing at 5.0%.
• Stratford: Oxford Street triplex sold at $795,000 ($265K per unit). The only other Stratford closed comparable in the dataset.
• Woodstock: no confirmed closed transactions in this study period. The market is too thin for independent trend analysis at this time.
• Average market rent in London is approximately $1,314 per unit, below Guelph ($1,904) and KCW ($1,747).

INTRODUCTION

London is the largest multifamily market in this series by transaction count and by total volume, and the data for Spring 2026 presents a story of two distinct dynamics running in parallel. At the institutional end, landmark portfolio transactions, specifically the Royal Oak Terrace sale and the Lumen Drive specialized portfolio, have inflated the headline volume figures and attracted national capital. At the small-to-mid-market end, the picture is more nuanced. A 7.9% vacancy rate, a meaningful volume of new supply, and a cluster of MLS-sourced transactions in the $525K to $1.4M range reveal an active private market of owner-operators managing estate sales, below-market rent rolls, and the occasional distressed asset.

Stratford, brought into this report following the merger of what was originally planned as a standalone market update, punches above its weight. The Queensland Apartments transaction, at $65.8M for a brand-new 150-unit purpose-built rental at 17.3% lease-up vacancy, is one of the most revealing data points in this entire regional series. Woodstock, with minimal transaction data in the current period, is noted as a thin market that warrants monitoring but does not yet support independent trend analysis.

THE MACRO ENVIRONMENT: LONDON RENTAL MARKET

London's rental market has undergone a meaningful shift in the past 18 months. CMHC data shows overall vacancy in the London CMA at approximately 7.9%, a material increase from the sub-3% levels of 2021 and 2022. The driver is supply-side. London experienced a concentrated delivery of new purpose-built rental units in 2023 and 2024, and those units have been absorbing against a demand base that has softened as non-permanent resident inflows declined. (Source: CMHC Rental Market Report 2025)

This is not a structural problem. It is a cyclical one. London's employment base in health care, education, manufacturing, and financial services is durable. Western University and Fanshawe College anchor consistent post-secondary enrollment demand. The 7.9% vacancy is likely to compress as the new supply gets absorbed and the pipeline of new completions slows.

Average asking rents in London are running approximately $1,314 per unit across all bedroom types for purpose-built rental. Turnover rents on vacant units are tracking higher than in-place rents on stabilized tenancies, consistent with the broader Ontario pattern. (Source: CMHC Rental Market Report 2025; commercial property database)

LONDON TRANSACTIONS

Royal Oak Terrace (546 units, $102.5M): This is the defining transaction of the London market in this period. A portfolio sale encompassing multiple properties across London, transacting at $187,729 per unit, which is below the replacement cost of new construction by a meaningful margin. That spread is the core of the acquisition thesis. The 12-month doubling of London's total sales volume is almost entirely attributable to this single trade.

An Outliner is Lumen Drive (Seniors Housing Portfolio): This transaction records at approximately $3.4M per unit across the portfolio. This is explicitly a seniors housing and specialized care facility portfolio, not conventional multifamily. The per-unit metric is therefore not comparable to any residential rental transaction in this report. Do not use this as a pricing reference for conventional apartment stock.

MLS-Sourced London Sales (6 transactions, $525K to $1.4M range): Six confirmed London transactions surfaced through MLS systems that were not captured in the commercial database. These are predominantly small-format properties -- duplexes, triplexes, and small multi-units -- sold through estate processes, with below-market in-place rents reflecting long-tenured tenants in older residential stock. Average per-unit pricing across this group is approximately $185,000 per unit.

Another Outlier is Wharncliffe Road North (Power of Sale, $600,000): This property was listed in the commercial database as Price Not Disclosed. The MLS system confirmed the actual sale at $600,000 under Power of Sale. At an estimated 8 units, this equates to approximately $75,000 per unit, by far the lowest per-unit value in the London dataset. Power of Sale transactions should not be used as market comparables for conventional valuations.

Properties on Emery Street West, Godfrey Drive, Stratton Drive, Longwoods Road, and Cheapside Street traded in the $525,000 to $900,000 range. These are owner-operator scale transactions in established London neighbourhoods with stable tenancy demand and limited upside on current rents.

THE STRATFORD TRANSACTIONS: A TALE OF TWO MARKETS

An Outlier are the Queensland Apartments (150 units, $65.8M): A joint venture of HIP Developments and Melloul-Blamey Construction completed the sale of this brand-new, 6-storey purpose-built rental building to Skyline Apartment REIT for $65,800,000, or $438,667 per unit. The building was built in 2025, comprises 110 one-bedroom and 40 two-bedroom suites, and was at 17.3% vacancy at time of sale, a lease-up position. The deal was completed directly without brokerage representation on either side. The financing structure, a $47M first mortgage from CIBC at 5.0%, confirms that institutional lenders are comfortable with the Stratford market at this price point. Market rent data at time of sale shows $2,113 per unit average across the building.

At $438,667 per unit for a Class A 2025-built asset in a 40,000-person city, this transaction will set the ceiling for Stratford multifamily pricing for the foreseeable future. When a national REIT underwrites a lease-up deal at $439K per unit with 17.3% vacancy and 5% CIBC financing, that is an institutional conviction trade about the long-run fundamentals of the Southwestern Ontario rental market.

Oxford Street Triplex ($795,000): A 3-unit property on Oxford Street in Stratford sold at $795,000, or $265,000 per unit. This is the only other confirmed Stratford closed comparable in the dataset. At $265K per unit it prices at a premium to the London small-plex average, consistent with Stratford's relative affordability premium among smaller Ontario cities.

VACANCY AND RENTAL MARKET CONTEXT

SALES VOLUME: YEAR-OVER-YEAR

A NOTE ON WOODSTOCK

The commercial transaction database returned no confirmed closed multifamily transactions for Woodstock in this study period. The market is thin and transactions, when they occur, tend to be privately negotiated and lightly marketed. Woodstock's multifamily market is worth watching as a secondary corridor between London and the Waterloo Region, and will be reported on independently when sufficient transaction data exists to support a meaningful analysis.

THE BOTTOM LINE

London is the most complex market in this series. The 7.9% vacancy headline will attract attention and concern, and it deserves both, but it needs to be understood in context. The vacancy is concentrated in newer purpose-built product that was delivered into a softening demand environment. Stabilized legacy stock with long-tenured tenant bases is not experiencing 7.9% vacancy. It is running well below that. The buyers who are paying $187K to $188K per unit for large London portfolios understand this distinction. They are not buying average vacancy. They are buying specific assets with specific tenant profiles and specific upside timelines.

The Queensland Apartments transaction in Stratford is the data point that will age best in this report. A brand-new, 150-unit Class A purpose-built rental in a 40,000-person city, acquired by a national REIT at $439K per unit with 17.3% lease-up vacancy and 5% CIBC financing. That is an institutional conviction trade about the long-run fundamentals of the Southwestern Ontario rental market.

For London specifically: if you own stabilized assets with in-place rents and clean tenancy, this is still a functioning transaction market and buyers exist. If you own newer or recently acquired product with elevated vacancy and above-market acquisition debt, the next 12 to 18 months are about operations, not transactions. Tighten the cost structure, work the incentives to fill units, and let the market absorb the supply overhang.

If you own multifamily in London, Stratford, or anywhere in Southwestern Ontario and want an honest assessment of where your asset stands in the current market, I am always glad to have that conversation.

TERRY RIDDOCH

If you would like to talk through how any of this applies to a building you own or one you are considering, I am always happy to walk through the numbers.

Terry Riddoch
Real Estate Broker -- Multifamily and Investment Properties, Ontario
Phone: 519 591 1725
Email: [email protected]
Web: terryriddoch.ca

SOURCES

• CMHC Rental Market Report 2025 -- London CMA
• Commercial real estate transaction database (paid subscription)
• Statistics Canada
• Ontario MLS systems transaction data (multiple boards)
• National rental market database (paid subscription)
• Skyline Apartment REIT -- transaction press release
• Bank of Canada Policy Interest Rate and Bond Yield Data